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Sanguo zhi pinghua
Sanguo zhi pinghua 三國志平話 ("A storytelling of the Records of the Three Kingdoms") is a fictionalized account of the Records of the Three Kingdoms. The word pinghua 平話 refers to storytelling as a form of art. It's a bit like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in several ways, and because it actually pre-dates Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it may have been an important form of inspiration for it. Evidence of this are the many fictional stories that are present in identical or near-identical form in both works and some of the fictional characters that were introduced in Sanguo zhi pinghua and taken into Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Bits of information The Sanguo zhi pinghua was released during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) from 1321-1323. An earlier edition was released in 1294 under the title Sanfen shilüe 三分事略 ("A Brief Account of the Tripartation"). The content of these works are basically the same, though an obvious difference may be the art at the top of every page. The art of the Sanfen shilüe looks more simplistic than the Sanguo zhi pinghua counterpart. Both these works are believed to have set the foundation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. However the overall story plot and character development in Sanguo zhi pinghua are not well constructed and developed, and the main characters, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, are portrayed as being somewhat more violent than they are in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. There are some obvious differences between Sanguo zhi pinghua and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In Pinghua the three sworn brothers are much more the central point of the story than in Romance. They are without a doubt the main characters. Especially Zhang Fei, who is also the strongest warrior in this story (even besting Lü Bu). Zhuge Liang, already an unparalelled mastermind in Romance, is more invincible in Sanguo zhi pinghua, destroying Zhou Yu and Sima Yi with even more ease than in Romance. Read the Sanguo zhi pinghua online (English and Chinese) :the entire Chinese version can be viewed by clicking on Part A, Part B or Part C in the table below. An English translation is currently work in progress, but you can read the already translated pages by clicking on the page number on the table below. List of fictional characters exclusive to Sanguo zhi pinghua :Main article: 'List of fictional people in Sanguo zhi pinghua'' *Du Qi 杜旗 *Zhang Shan 張山 List of fictional events exclusive to Sanguo zhi pinghua :Main article: 'List of fictional stories in Sanguo zhi pinghua'' Romance of the Three Kingdoms is known for its various fictional events, such as the Battle of Hulao Pass or Zhang Fei's trashing of Du Biao, the Imperial Inspector. Many, but not all of these events, find their origin in Sanguo zhi pinghua / Sanfen shilüe. Below you will find a list of events that are exclusive to these texts, and thus not taken into Romance of the Three Kingdoms. *Lü Bu murdered Ding Yuan and stole Red Hare from him, by his own accord. *The Imperial Inspector was seized by both Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, who stripped him and tied him to a hitching post, gave him a solid beating and then cut him into 6 parts, which they hung in different places of the city. *When the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition was formed, Cao Cao set out to personally find and recruit Liu Bei. *Sun Jian lost to Lü Bu and escaped by hanging his helmet and robe on a tree. Dong Zhuo's men retrieved the gear and were going to bring them to Dong Zhuo, but then Zhang Fei ambushed them and took back the helmet and robe. Zhang Fei then took them back to Sun Jian and shamed him in front of everyone. *When Zhang Fei duelled Lü Bu, he actually had the upper hand. *On the eve of the battle of Chibi, Sun Quan went to Lady Wu for ideas. She told him directly to ally with Liu Bei, and said that Sun Jian had said that in case of emergency, Sun Quan should make Zhou Yu Commander-in-Chief and Huang Gai the leader of the vanguard, and Cao Cao would be automatically defeated. *The arrow-boat idea, also on the eve of the battle of Chibi, came from Zhou Yu, not Zhuge Liang. *When the Simas usurped Wei, the former Han emperor Xian laughed himself to death. Notes *Zhang Jue, in historical sources written as 張角, is written in SGZ Pinghua as 張斍. *Mi Zhu, in historical sources written as 麋竺, is written in SGZ Pinghua as 糜竺 (Mei Zhu). *Yellow Turban leader Zhang Liang 張梁 is called Zhang Biao 張表. *Bian Zhang 邊章, a Liang Province rebel who is believed to have died about 185 historically, debuts in SGZ Pinghua about the time Ma Teng dies (historically in 212). ---- Sources *Liu Shuhua 劉淑華. Sanguo zhi pinghua yumao pingben Sanguo yanyi zhi qingjie bijiao 三國志平話與毛評本三國演義之情節比較. Taiwan: National University, 2006. *Roberts, Moss. Three Kingdoms. Vol 2. California: University of California Press, 1994. 2 vols. Category:Modern Sources